Traffic stop on I-80 in Illinois finds 5,000 pounds of pot; 2 arrested

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Two men were arrested last week when the tractor-trailer they were driving was found to contain over 5,000 pounds of marijuana.

The Illinois State Police said they arrested 41-year-old Mahmoud B. Bazrouk of Norridge, Illinois and 45-year-old Haed O. Samham of Harwood Heights, Illinois for cannabis trafficking (class X felony) after a traffic stop in LaSalle County.
 
On Sept. 4, just after 11:30 a.m., a trooper with ISP’s Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Bureau conducted a traffic stop on a tractor-trailer on eastbound Interstate 80, just outside of LaSalle. 
 
ISP said a subsequent search of the vehicle revealed multiple pallets of suspected cannabis and cannabis products, weighing about 5,858.4 pounds. The driver and co-driver were taken into custody without incident. 
 
ISP presented the case to the LaSalle County state’s attorney’s office, who charged Bazrouk and Samham with cannabis trafficking. They were being held at the LaSalle County Jail pending their first court appearance.